


a cold wind's whispering

by oathkeeping



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Mini Fic, not overly shippy, oaths and vows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-24
Updated: 2012-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-12 19:49:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/495035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oathkeeping/pseuds/oathkeeping
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: "After learning that Brienne nearly died at the hands of Lady Stoneheart to protect him, Jaime is consumed with guilt. He fears leaving Brienne alone again, especially during the night."</p>
            </blockquote>





	a cold wind's whispering

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the asoiaf_kinkmeme on lj... short and sweet. Sort of a first shot, but I've had this sitting on my computer for a while now. I'm not sure I acheived what I wanted to when I wrote it, but I like it, I think.

In the shadow of a large tree, they set up their camp. Jaime risked a small fire, if only because it looked as if Brienne needed something more sustainable than the crusts of stale bread that the outlaws had given her as she left to find him, and a little warmth would do them both good, as not to freeze on the cold ground.   
  
He had offered to keep guard tonight and while she had at first refused, her tiredness and recent brush with death ( _a few seconds longer in that tree was all it would have taken_ ) had clearly worn her and she fell asleep quickly. It was well, he would likely not sleep much tonight - the tale of her ordeal kept him awake, while she slept nearby. Even in the fire's dying embers, he could see it was not a restful slumber, her dreams were as troubling to her as the day was.  
  
Guilt tugged and knawed at him as he recalled the day she rode to him, looking as though some terrible weight were upon her, eyes full of shadows, with half of her face bandaged and bloody. All because he handed her a priceless sword and bade her do the impossible. Because he would not do it, he had placed finding Sansa Stark on her and sent her on her way, thinking not of it. He had used to see it clearly, to see Brienne ride up to him with Sansa Stark, but as weeks passed he wondered if he made a mistake in his actions.  
  
Jaime sighed. Stupid, stubborn wench. Too noble for her own good. But a far better knight than any man he knew, a constant reminder of the vows he had taken, and then broken, the man he'd been before killing the Mad King. She would not be here, if not for the boy she had in her company. They would kill him, and the other knight if she did not return. He knew what it would do to her, if they died. So hey had a plan now, mad as it was, to rescue them, and if luck should have it, not die themselves.  
  
The knowledge that she was protecting him from Stoneheart and her men, that... Brienne would have died to protect him. Oh, he could say it was for her own skin that she had escaped, but they both knew that to be false. She was far too noble for that, really.   
  
"So is it my turn again, hm?" He asked her sleeping form. She had held him, cared for him after he'd lost his hand, with no complaint - would've had done it regardless of them asking to do so. And then he went and jumped in a bloody bear pit for her, unarmed ( _that was a poor choice of words, but it made it no less true_ ). Now, this.   
  
"I am once again in your debt, wench." He eyed her sleeping form, and moved closer to her - the large sword lying in between them now. He would let no harm befall her again. Not for his sake, nor anyone else's. If it meant his deliverance to Stoneheart, then so be it.  
  
He promised, and he intended to make sure to see it through.


End file.
